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chilli2
Elite

Now Broadband router vs Third party "own" router

Since i first signed up to now, and the account/line became active i never used the Now router, instead i stuck with my TP link archer VR2800 , and the tp link works fine with no issues.

 Ive always been of the attitude that ISP supplied kit is almost always not upto much , however even though ive been advising to use your own kit of you have wifi issues, id never used the supplied Now router , so after finding myself with ab bit of free time to faff around i unpacked the now router, unplugged the tp link and connected up the now router instead.

 

The Now router has a smaller footprint than the TP link so for the last few days the now router sat ontop of the unplugged TP link.

 

The house its in is an early 1980's build - so while it has some insulation its not the modern aluminum backed stuff that kills wifi, and neither is even older stone, so in theory wifi propagation shouldn't be much of an issue

So using wifi analyzer app on my phone this is how the TP link compared to the Now router the lower the number the better the signal

Starting with the Now router signal strengths in 2.4/  5Ghz (the bands were split )

Far bedroom -79/-72

room above -59/-70

Garden --/ --

wheelie Bin store area -75/-86

street light on road -88/--

And the TP link

Far bedroom -58/-64

room above -54/-54

Garden -62/-70

wheelie bin store area -60/-66

street light on road -70/-80

 

And a few other things, overall the Ethernet performance / responsiveness is significantly better on the TP link as was/is the wifi even in areas where the signal is good on both, things just seem slower on the now kit as opposed to a bit faster on the tp link,

 There are 18 devices connected via wifi

 

 

2 REPLIES 2
Jayach
Elite 3

Interesting observations, which confirms what we all thought. The Now router is pants.

RoyB
Legend

@chilli2 

-79 is a lower number than -58. 

I take it we are supposed to disregard the minus sign for your purposes here? 😛

Set a Payment PIN on your account so that no-one but you can buy memberships on it. Check your bank accounts monthly for any other unexpected payments to Now. That way you can at least nip them in the bud, while you and Now figure out whose fault they are.